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Manpreet Badal’s elevation assumes significance ahead of the next Punjab Assembly election as BJP expands its organisational footprint
New Delhi, August 17
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced a major organisational reshuffle, appointing former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal as a national vice-president and former Union minister Smriti Irani as a national general secretary.
The appointments are the first major organisational changes announced by BJP president Nitin Nabin since he took charge of the party. The move comes as the BJP prepares for several electoral contests, including the next Punjab Assembly election.
Badal, a five-time MLA, had sufferred defeat from Bathinda in the 2022 Punjab Assembly election. He joined the BJP in 2023 after leaving the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).His appointment as national vice-president is being seen as significant in the context of the BJP’s preparations in Punjab, where the party is seeking to expand its organisational and electoral footprint.
Irani, who served as a Union Minister and represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha, has been appointed national general secretary. Her elevation comes after a period in which she had a relatively lower organisational profile within the party.
The BJP has also appointed Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Tirath Singh Rawat, Ram Madhav, Baijayant Panda, D Purandeswari, Rekha Verma, Varsha Narendrabhai Doshi, Bharti Pravin Pawar, Lal Singh Arya, M Nagaraja, Tariq Mansoor and Madhuchandra Kar as national vice-presidents.
B L Santosh has been appointed National General Secretary (Organisation), while Shivprakash and Saudan Singh have been appointed National Joint General Secretaries (Organisation).
The party has also appointed Vinod Tawde, Sunil Bansal, Biplab Kumar Deb, Satish Poonia, Gajendra Patel, Harish Dwivedi and Sanjay Bhatia as national general secretaries while Union minister Piyush Goyal has been named the party’s national treasurer.
Dr Kiran Deep
